I just got back from another great weekend in Las Vegas, where I got to hang out with my daughter and her girlfriend (Yo Adriene!) along with my best friend. My daughter likes to stay with the Big Dog while she gets free rooms, food and alcohol while I am complimentary or have daddy’s credit card. If you are the parent of an adult child, you understand. For the record, I’m not a great player. $20 on a Blackjack video machine is my speed. I get asked all the time: how can you afford trips to Las Vegas so often? The answer is simple: travel hack.
I got free round-trip airfare from ACV-LAS using my United points, three nights comped at the Wynn/Encore with a $400 food credit (SW Steakhouse), and free parking. Plus, I got a complimentary $150 lunch at Fountainebleau, another $100 food credit at Gordon Ramsay Burger for lunch for four, free martinis at Piazza Lounge at Tuscany Resort, and two complimentary High Roller tickets . Free valet parking on the entire Strip (except Venetian/Palazzo). Add the American Express Centurion Lounge and my travel coffee and breakfast is covered. You have to pay taxes and tips on the gross bill. To top it off, I got fifth-row seats for Duran Duran at the Encore Concierge Will Call an hour before the show for just $121. The people sitting behind me paid $475 each for tickets. In total, I received $4,500 in travel expenses for about $250 for my airfare, hotel, valet parking, show, lots of meals and drinks.
There is a method to get free flights, free or cheap hotel rooms, and free meals. The key is how to unlock all the advantages of Las Vegas. Sign up for each casino’s player card. The goal is to achieve Caesars Diamond status. This card opens many doors through status matching with other casinos to get deeply discounted room rates, no (extortionate) resort fees, free valet parking, and some casinos offer food and beverage credits. To qualify for Caesars Diamond status, you need to bet a few hundred thousand dollars (slot machine coins or average dollar bet per hand in Blackjack or Roulette) or get the Wyndham Business card. The Wyndham Business Card automatically provides Wyndham Diamond status, which Caesars will match to Diamond status. Once you achieve Caesars Diamond status, you will be able to match MGM Gold, Fountainebleau Gold, Hard Rock (formerly Mirage) Icon, and Wynn Platinum status. Now you get free valet parking at all of these casinos, plus many other perks. Fountainebleau offers a $150 food credit and a $150 spa credit. Hard Rock (Mirage) offers a $100 food credit. Wynn offers a $150 food credit in your birthday month. Caesars Diamond offers a $100 annual food credit.
Wynn/Encore offered me eight nights and $1,200 in food credits this year. Three nights at the Wynn/Encore on a weekend can cost more than $2,000. With Caesars Diamond status, I get Caesars rooms midweek (Sunday-Thursday) for just $10 per night, no resort fees. The best part of all these casino status cards is the line cutting. There is a separate queue in most restaurants/bars for status players. Last weekend, Gordon Ramsay Burger had 20 people waiting in line for 30 minutes to get a table. Matthew goes to the front and shows my Caesars Diamond card and the receptionist says, “Follow me, sir.” I got dirty looks from those people waiting in line.
Don’t hate the playa,
I hate Carta Playa!
Rumor has it that many of my family and friends have used my casino cards to get free valet parking (normally $40-45) whenever they go to Las Vegas. All you have to do is scan your valet parking ticket and then swipe my casino card. Bamm, free valet parking! Just tip your valets. My daughter keeps her Wynn/Encore room key so that no matter what hotel she stays at in the future, she can enter the Wynn/Encore pools. In Las Vegas, beers cost between $13 and $15 each. So Matthew buys a 12-pack of IPA at Vons for $13.99, then gets some Wynn plastic cups, and now my beers are just $1.16 each. It’s amazing what a six-pack of ice on the bathroom sink saves for you.
You can spend $4,000 to $5,000 on a weekend in Las Vegas. Or you can spend a few hundred dollars. You decide.
Matthew Owen lives in Eureka and believes the First Amendment allows for free speech. He can be reached at mowen707@gmail.com.
